FEDERAL COURT GRANTS SNAP REMOVAL OF SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CASE
December 14, 2020
On November 8, 2020, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas approved the “snap removal” of a Texas state court case filed against Southwest Airlines. The case relates to allegations that Southwest negligently breached several duties during Southwest Airlines Flight 1380’s engine-failure incident in April 2018. The plaintiff originally filed the suit in Texas state court, but the next day before service had been effected, Southwest, despite being the sole defendant and a citizen of the forum, removed the case to federal court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction. Typically, 28 U.S.C. 1441(b)(2), the forum defendant rule, prohibits removal solely based on diversity jurisdiction “if any of the parties in interest properly joined and served as defendants is a citizen of the State in which such action is brought”, which Southwest was in this case. For this reason, the plaintiff filed a motion to remand the case to state court, claiming the removal was improper under 28 U.S.C. 1441(b)(2). However, the district court found that “snap removal”, which essentially allows a state-court defendant to circumvent the forum-defendant rule by removing cases to federal court on diversity grounds almost immediately after a plaintiff files in state court but before the plaintiff formally serves the defendant is unambiguously allowed by the plain language of the statute.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665), or Andy Orr (aorr@eckertsemans.com or 202-659-6625).
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